Cap makes Cup repeat extra difficult

Revamped Blackhawks think they can pull off feat

October 02, 2010|By Chris Kuc, Tribune reporter

In the aftermath of a historic season followed by a summer-long celebration, it's difficult to fathom how the Blackhawks can top the experience of capturing their first Stanley Cup in nearly half a century.

There is one way, however: Do it again.

That falls squarely at the top of the easier-said-than-done department, as there hasn't been a repeat champion in the NHL since the Red Wings pulled off back-to-back titles in 1997 and '98.

The Hawks will be the 11th franchise to attempt the feat since Detroit accomplished it, but have several factors working against them. The most obvious — and for the Hawks certainly a challenge after a tumultuous offseason during which they lost 10 players through trades or free agency — is the departures of players a season removed from winning, something that has been more prevalent since the introduction of the salary cap in 2005.

"Since the salary cap era, it's tough to keep everything together," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "(There's) parity and teams aren't spending a lot more than other teams. It's a thrill of a lifetime to (win) it and you can't wait to do it again, but the fact that it hasn't happened in 12 years shows you how hard it really is."

In the Hawks' midst is arguably the foremost authority on the subject of repeating in the NHL, and he sees roster turnover as the biggest culprit.

"A lot of it teams can't stand pat like they used to," Hawks senior advisor Scotty Bowman said. "In the 1970s and 80s you could hold onto all your players and now you can't. You hope that new guys coming in can feel the excitement of the holdover players. There's not a written formula how to do it."

If there was, Bowman surely would be the author. The legendary coach was behind the bench when the Wings repeated and also guided the Penguins to the second of their consecutive championships in 1992 (a four-game sweep of the Hawks). Bowman also coached the Canadiens when they ran a string of four consecutive titles together from 1976-79.

"The focus is on the changes in the lineup as there's an opportunity for players to come in," Bowman said. "Maybe before this year they felt they maybe should have been here and for whatever reason they weren't. Some of those guys will come in with additional motivation."

Another pitfall is the occurrence of injuries, and the Hawks will be tested early with Saturday's announcement that veteran defenseman Brian Campbell will be sidelined four to five weeks with a sprained right knee.

"It's a short offseason and guys who need rest don't get to have it," said former Hawks winger and two-time Stanley Cup champion Craig Adams. "It makes for a long couple of years for sure. Our offseason is relatively short and that's when you use it to work on other things, to get bigger, stronger and faster. When you miss out on an offseason, you're almost a year behind. It's tough."

Dan Bylsma was Adams' coach for the veteran's second title — the first was with the Hurricanes in 2006 — as he led the Penguins to the 2009 Cup. He said the difficulties of repeating are as much mental as physical.

"I talked about this with our team," said Bylsma, who saw the Penguins' bid for a second consecutive title end in last season's Eastern Conference semifinals. "We went through some of the things that guys on our team had experience on like … winning the Cup and dealing with that and the next year with the expectations in the room and the motivational level for the team. We talked about them, we made adjustments and we dealt with some of the issues, but we almost hit every one that we talked about.

"It's tough getting that attention to detail throughout the year from Game 1 to Game 82 and not thinking you deserve the success and that it's going to be easy. That's a tough thing even when you know it's coming and you anticipate some of those ups and downs."

Even with history against them, the Hawks believe they can capture a second consecutive championship and avoid the fate of the previous 10 winners.

"As soon as the season starts we raise our banner and then we give the Stanley Cup back to the league," winger Troy Brouwer said. "From then on all it is is just trying to win it again. There should be no reason a team such as ours with so many … good returning players, why we can't win the Stanley Cup again."